


What Was Left

by Athena_Yule



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Minor Violence, Or if you choose to see it that way, Swearing, Tembiff if you squint?, There will be more fics about Temple if I have to supply all of that content myself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-03 20:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12154428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athena_Yule/pseuds/Athena_Yule
Summary: A fic centering around the aftermath of Biff's death, and how Loco and Temple dealt with it.





	1. Chapter 1

Loco hadn't seen much of what happened before Biff's death. Next to nothing, actually. All he could definitely say he saw is the mean lady in light blue armour running out of the room, shouting about something, before his gaze found itself glued to the sight of Temple sitting next to the orange soldier's corpse.

 

Before now, Loco had never thought about Temple being friends with a red, let alone Biff. Perhaps he should have seen it sooner. After all, it would have explained Temple's rather frequent nightly patrols, or maybe how negotiations between red and blue team always seemed to go better when those two were the ones doing the negotiating. But it probably didn't matter. Not anymore, at least. 

 

Loco had never really talked to Biff. Hell, he never really talked to anyone outside of Temple and Cronut. So no one could really blame him for trying to comfort Temple instead of grieving for Biff. He stepped beside his friend, cocking his head. He wasn't really sure how to help Temple, but his dad always said that people appreciate effort so long as it's genuine. Surely the same rule would apply here?

"Temple?"

 

No response. Loco leaned over slightly, and repeated himself. Nothing. Temple kept ignoring him, instead reaching out a hand to touch Biff. His fingers found the dead man's chest plate. His hand slowly moved down, until he found the hole that the flagpole had created. The wound was still bleeding sluggishly, and Temple's breathing sped up. The sound of his breathing, a noise accompanied by the rise and fall of his chest, was probably the loudest sound in the room at the time. Everyone else was being as quiet and as still as possible. Buckey seemed to be fighting an urge to bolt from the room, Gene seemed to be in a similar state, but slightly more agitated. Surge's gun lay limply at his side, his head tilted down in a sign of respect, and Lorenzo was comforting Cronut as he tried to hold back sobs, his hands raised to cover his mouth. 

 

Temple's hands had reached around to the back of Biff's head, and unlatched his helmet, removing it in one motion, setting it aside without sparing it a second glance. Biff's face was still etched with shock and pain. His eyes were open, and Temple used to of his fingers to close them. The heat from his body was draining, and all to quickly, it faded, leaving only a cold body. And as the body grew colder, the fact that  _Biff was dead_ finally sunk in. 

 

It was like a switch turned on, and suddenly everything around Temple was being thrown at him ten times stronger than it usually would be. His eyes flitted about the room, going from Surge, to Buckey and Gene, To Cronut, who was now openly sobbing into Lorenzo's shoulder, to Loco, who was sitting beside him, and how close he was, Loco was so close, so close too close too close _tooclose **tooclose** -_

"Get _away_ from me!"

 

Temple, as quickly as he could, stood up, bolted to the other side of the room, and in doing so, had shoved Loco over. Temple glared at the blue soldier, who stared back, as confused and hurt as his leader was enraged. Loco wasn't hurt physically, but being pushed over wasn't something he expected from a man who had spent the last ten to fifteen minutes standing still as a statue.

 

Buckey, and Red team, stared between the two in shock. Buckey had taken a step back, almost scared of what was going to happen. Temple stared at all of them, his hands curled into fists, when he let out a snarl. 

"Just leave me _alone_."

 

Temple left the room the same way that Carolina had, and had run as fast as possible into his room. It was only when he locked the door did his radiating anger faded even slightly. He stared at his own hands, only then realising exactly what was on his visor. Temple used his right hand to try and wipe at the blood, and when it failed, he took off his helmet, before staring at it intently. He grimaced, then hunched his shoulders as they started shaking. Tears left his eyes as all rage faded for the time being, leaving nothing but pure sorrow.

_"Why?"_


	2. Chapter 2

Biff's 'funeral' had taken place only about twelve hours after his death.

 

Temple had apparently made a phone call for his body to be picked up and shipped back to Earth. When told that he had to remove his armour, he numbly agreed, and did as asked. When the ship arrived, he had bandaged Biff's abdomen to the best of his ability, said his final goodbyes, then watched as the mortician's loaded Biff onto their ship, told Temple that they were 'Sorry for his trouble', and flew away. If any of the other Sim Troopers in the canyon had seen the ship come and go, then they sure as hell hadn't said anything, let alone come over. 

 

Temple stayed outside for a while, breathing softly as he stared up into the sky. The night sky was clear of any clouds, and due to the lack of pollution, the stars were clearly visible. Temple's beliefs had jumped from one to the next throughout his entire life, but in that moment, he wondered if Biff could see him then. He wondered if Biff was upset with him. Perhaps if he had done just little more to stop Carolina- Perhaps if Biff was here instead of him, things would be better, then everything would be okay. Temple might have been missed, but everyone would move on, nothing would change in the grand scheme of things. At least Temple didn't have a girl waiting for him back on-

 

Temple's thought process temporarily halted, and then connected the dots. He began to make his way back to Blue base. He had a... Very uncomfortable phone call to make. 

 

* * *

 

 

"Hey. What? Yeah, I said hey- Hold on a second."

 

Temple was there. He was only about ten or fifteen feet away from Loco. Loco hadn't seen Temple ever since he ran away from him after what happened to Biff. Loco wasn't the brightest when it came to reading the social mood, but even he knew that Temple probably wouldn't like it if he walked in at that moment. So, what else was Loco to do but stand as still as possible, just around the corner, and pray that Temple didn't hear or see him. As he listened on, it was clear that Temple had turned the phone on speaker, seeing as how the voice on the other end was now clearly obvious, as well as the clincking and scraping of metal against ceramic: She must have been eating something.

_"Better, Mark?"_

"Yeah. Kinda scratchy, but it's better."

_"Sooooo, haven't heard from you in a while. You usually don't make calls like this. What was it that you said about the phone bill again? 'I'd be better off as an actual indentured servant than be left trying to pay that bill'?"_

"Something like that. Seems like you haven't changed much since the last time we saw each other, huh?" 

_"Yep. Same to you, although it also sounds like you're more depressed than normal. What, did someone steal your snacks?"_

"...You're not wrong."

" _Hah! Now, what did I want to tell you... Biff probably told you already about the kid on the way, right? Can you hand the phone over? Don't tell him before I do, but I took an ultrasound, and I sorta really want to discuss baby names! Like... Blake, that sounds cool, or Alex- Wait, why am I still talking to you about this? No offense, you get what I'm saying, right?"_

 

There was a long pause from Temple.

"Yeah, I get ya. But listen, 'Gina, I can't hand over the phone."

 _"Why not? Is he takin' a shit or something? Then hand it over when he_ gets _back to you."_

"No, not that. 'Gina.... There's something I need to tell you. It's important."

 

Temple's tone had turned serious, and Georgina, as well as Loco, could tell. There was another scraping sound from Georgina's end. 

_"...Something happened?"_

"...Yeah. Biff..."

_"What? Did he get hurt? Is he okay?"_

 

Loco had gathered the courage to peak around the corner he was hiding behind, and saw Temple's shoulder's tremble as he tried to find the right words to break the bad news.

_"...Mark?"_

"It's probably going to be easier if I tell you from the beginning." 

 

Georgina's end had gotten significantly quieter. She knew that this probably wouldn't end well.

"I- Biff had just gotten back from shore leave, and a couple of days later, both teams got two Freelancers, one- one for each team, that is. We got a chick called Carolina. She... Red team's freelancer had taken our flag while she was distracted kicking their asses."

_"So did this Carolina woman punch Biff in the nuts or the face or something? Did he get a concussion? Is it serious?"_

"He- god, he- It wasn't a concussion, 'Gina."

 

Temple took a moment to recuperate, holding the phone further away from his face as he shuddered, before continuing.

"Eventually Carolina and the other one started fighting each other, in Blue base. And- I'm sorry, I'm derailing the story- Biff, he um- After he found out that you were expecting, he decided that he couldn't just... Stay here anymore. He couldn't leave you back on Earth to raise a baby on your own so he uh, decided that the best way to get back to you was by medical leave, and- you know what medical leave is, right?"

 _"Uhh, hang on."_ There's the sound of tapping. Georgina must have been on her laptop or something. _"... Huh. So it's when you get too hurt for the army to keep you?"_

"Yeah, something like that."

_"Well, Biff's not the healthiest guy around, but he didn't really change any habits after joining the army as far as I could tell... So what did he do? Don't tell me he shot himself in the foot or something?"_

"Well... Not exactly."

_"...Temple, did you shoot Biff?"_

"NO!"

 

Temple's voice was panicked, and got loud enough for Loco to decide that he was done peaking. It was probably for the best, since (if one were to judge from the sounds) Temple had started to pace. He was clearly horrified at the mere prospect of shooting Biff, and with good reason.

"No, I meant... No. He told me to, held out his pinkie for me and everything, but I just- I couldn't do that to him."

"Good."

"But then-" Temple had gotten all choked up again. "I already said that the two freelancers were fighting, right? Well, Biff and I got too close to the fight and- and-"

 

He had stopped pacing. Loco's heart broke as he heard sobs from Temple's direction.

_"Are you... Crying? Mark, you never cry."_

"Gina, I -I _tried_ , I did, I swear, but she was too strong, they were _both_ too strong, and then the other Freelancer- She threw the flag and- Biff, _Biff_ -"

_"... Mark? What happened."_

"He- _Biff's dead!"_

 

There was a dead silence on the other end for a while. Temple struggled to hold in his sobbing. Georgina came back on eventually however, if only to deliver one final sentence.

_"I'll... Call you back."_

 

The phone call ended with a click. Temple stood there, wiping at his face furiously and blinking away any remaining tears. When he was done with that, he sighed, and started to make his way back to his room, when he stopped in his tracks.

 

"Loco? What are you doing here?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect a confrontation between Temple and Loco next chapter. Hope all of you enjoyed the chapter, and hopefully Georgina's characterization.


	3. Chapter 3

"Loco, what are- When did you get here?"

 

At that moment, Loco couldn't help but feel his stomach sink as it dropped past the floor and six feet underground. Temple didn't let him answer though, as he instead reached his own conclusions.

"I didn't hear you come in, so... Wait a minute, you weren't hear before I came in, were you?"

 

Loco's guilty look told Temple everything he needed to know.

"Oh, are you kidding me?! I had to make a call to B- to 'Gina about- Wait, how much did you hear?"

"I... All of it."

 

Temple, who had been getting angrier by the moment already, glared at Loco with a mixture of some disgust and mostly rage.

"So are you saying that you knew that I was making a difficult phone call, and you just fucking spied on me?!"

 

Loco flinched. "I'm sor-"

 

 

"Does it look like I care if you're _sorry?_ Does it, idiot?!"

"Temple-"

" _Don't._ Loco."

 

His name was spat out like a slur. Temple was now advancing on Loco, who was walking backwards to avoid getting too close.

 "I am sick and tired of you fucking up like this. Biff- My best friend died, and you just watched me tell his expecting girlfriend, like there's nothing wrong about that?!" 

"...I'm sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Loco!"

 

Temple wasn't strong enough to do any serious damage to Loco- Hell, him pushing him over before was pretty much only due to Loco's lack of balance, but that didn't stop him from shoving Loco back. Loco kept backing up, his head lowered and shoulder hunched in fear. Temple clenched his fists as though to emulate some form of control over himself. 

"Fuck, I- You- _Fuck!"_

 

He ran a hand through his hair and shoved past Loco, who stared at the man as he ran back into his bedroom. Something told Loco that he wouldn't leave for a while. His shoulders relaxed slightly, although he remained tense, and he walked back into the kitchen for some water. Picking up a glass, and filling it with tap water, he sipped on it slowly, gathering his thoughts. Maybe he wanted something more than just water, something substantial, but that was before everything that had just happened with Temple. Speaking of Temple...

 

Loco wasn't the best at reading the social mood. It was something that anyone could tell you. But he could definitely tell two things: He did something very wrong, and Temple was now very mad and sad. Smad. Loco tried to laugh at that, but it was flat, and didn't hold any emotion. He took another sip of the room-temperature water.

 

What was Loco going to do now? What _could_ he do? Temple probably hated him and it was all his fault. His leg started bouncing: A nervous habit that Loco had picked up and never quite learned how to drop. He tried to reason with himself. Temple hated him _now_ , sure, but later... Oh who was he kidding, Loco really screwed up. Sitting around and playing the waiting game wouldn't help anyone. He never really liked that game much anyways. 

 

Maybe... Maybe he could make it up to Temple somehow? Yeah, that seemed to be it! But what did Temple like? Grapes? No, Command wouldn't send those to them (Something about a short lifespan or the like). Cake? But Loco didn't know what kind Temple liked. From what he could tell, effort might not be enough this time around. He thought about what he could do for at least ten minutes, ideas mulling over in his head, before he finally came to one.

 

The woman that Temple called, what was her name? Gina, Gina... Georgina, that was it. She knew Biff. Was she on Earth? Maybe. There must be something in the... Red army records? Yeah... Yeah! There had to be! Temple seemed to like her, so what if Loco made it so that... Loco wasn't sure of how to articulate it but perhaps a visit? Yeah, that would definitely work! And then after that, when Temple came back Loco could apologise and then maybe Temple would apologise too (He really didn't have to, but it would be nice). Loco's brain was swimming with potential outcomes. He'd probably need to get help from the Reds... Maybe from Buckey, now that he thought of it. This was a perfect plan!Making up his mind, Loco stood up and walked out of Blue base to the other side of the canyon.

 

This couldn't possibly go wrong. 

Could it?


End file.
